Materials specimen marking device



July 22, 1947. SONNTAG 2,424,338

MATERIALS SPECIMEN MARKING DEVICE Fild Oct. 26, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR [Mei Jonah;

A'I'II'ORNEY July 22, 1947. A. SONNTAG 2,424,338

MATERIALS SPECIMEN MARKING DEVICE 4 I Filed 0012.. 26, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Alfred Jenn/2' 1/! Patented July 22, 1947 MATERIALS SPECMEN MARKING DEVICE Alfred Sonntag, Greenwich, Conn., assignor, by mcsne assignments, to The Baldwin Locomotive Works, a corporation of Pennsylvania Application October 26, 1943, Serial No. 507,761

8 Claims.

This invention relates generally to center punches for marking the gage length of materials testing specimens and one of its objects is to provide an improved center punch that will insure an accurate gage length and punch marks therefor on diametrically opposite sides of the specimen.

A further object is to provide an improved center punch for marking the gage length of materials testing specimens on opposite sides thereof in a imple, expeditious and highly accurate manner with minimum thought and effort on the part of the operator, together with having the punch marks of uniform depth which is preferably adjustable.

A still further object is to provide an improved center punch for materials testing specimens of various diameters without requiring any alteration or adjustments of the punch to adapt it to different diameters of round specimens but at the same time retaining precision accuracy and dispatch in marking of a large number of specimens even though they are of diiferent diameters, thereby to allow the punch to be effectively used in production control work.

Another object is to provide an improved center punch for materials testing specimens that is relatively simple in construction, operation and maintenance and that is compact, sturdy and durable without sacrifice of its flexible adaptability and precision;

Other objects and advantages will be more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my improved center punch, parts of which are broken away to show details of construction;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through my im proved device showing the relation of the punches and the means for equalizing the action of the punches in order to aid in obtaining punch marks of uniform quality, this section being taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken substantially on the line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view through the automatic hammer blow device taken substantially in a plane indicated by the line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

In the particular embodiment of the invention such as disclosed herein merely for the pur pose of illustrating one specific form among possible others that the invention might take in practice, I have provided a preferably integral frame having a base I, an upright standard 2 and a head 3. A lower normally stationary set of center punches ii and 5 are suitably rigidly secured in a block 6 mounted for pivotal movement on a stud 7 which, as hown in Fig. 3, is threaded in standard 2. This stud can be locked in position by a plug 8 screwed into the back side of the hole containing stud 1 so as to abut against the inner end thereof. Vertically yieldably supported upon the pivotal equalizing punch support 6 is a specimen centering means 9 resting upon a pair of compression springs H disposed in recesses within member 6. In order to accommodate round specimens such as IU of different diameters the centering means 9 is provided with a longitudinal V-shaped groove l2. To guide the centering means, front and back plates I 3 and I4 are suitably secured thereto by screws or other means and the front plate is extended down over the front side pivotal base 6 while the back plate M similarly extends down over the pivotal base 6 but is cut out as indicated at l8 to bridge over a boss [9 in which stud l is secured. A relatively large opening l5, formed in the front plate to receive the head It of stud l, is of such size as to allow the centering means 9 to move downwardly any necessary distance while still being held in operative relation to base 6. An upper normally movable set of center punches 22 and 23 disposed in direct axial alignment with the lower punches 4 and 5 are rigidly secured in a movable block 24 which is slidably guided on a surface 25 of the frame.

The force for driving the center punches into the specimen I ll is applied by an automatic center punch device generally indicated at 26. This device per se is not my invention although it does form one cooperative element of my improved combination. As shown in Fig. 5 the device can be generally described as having a punch shank 29 to which the block 24 is suitably secured as by a pin 33 or other desired means. The shank 29 is slideably supported in a multiple part barrel 3| whose upper end has an axially adjustable threaded cap member 32 for adjusting the compression of spring 33 which bears on a hammer plunger 34 to impart a hammer blow to the upper end 35 of shank 29 upon release of a laterally movable pawl 36 which is adapted to rest on a shoulder 35' of the shank. To release the pawl from the shoulder the barrel is provided with a groove terminating in a cam 31, a portion of pawl 36 riding in the groove when the operator manually presses down on cap 32 and barrel 3| to store up energy in spring 33. During this time the barrel 3| will be suitably guided by a fiange 38 within a bore in the head 3 of frame 2. When cam 31 ultimately engages pawl 36 the latter will be moved to the left off of shoulder 35. Thereupon the energy stored in spring 33 will cause a sudden downward movement of plunger 34 which has a bore 40 in which the upper shank end 35 is received and whose upper closed end imparts a hammer blow to the shank 29. This hammer blow causes simultaneous marking of the specimen by the four center punches and all markings are of uniform depth and size by reason of having a single identical force applied to-each center punch. This uniformity of marking is further aided by the particular cooperative self-adjusting action of the four center punches and the fact that the four punches are simultaneously acted uponfrom a single constant source of energy such as spring 33 and the release of the pawl 3.6.

If the operator desires to have gauge markings of different size and depth in accordance with the particular material of the specimens to be tested, this may be accomplished merely by adjusting .cap 32 to different axial positions, thereby allowing a greater or less amount of energy to be stored in spring 33 before the cam '31 travels through its single fixed distance to release pawl 36. The barrel is returned to its normal upper position by a spring 4'! interposed betweenflange 3,8 and a ring 42 firmly held in the bore of head 3. Another spring 43 returns the stem '29 and barrel 3| to their initial position shown in Fig. 5 after the punching action has taken place. A collar 44 formed integrally with shank 29 is adapted to engage a shoulder on the lower portion of barrel 3| to serve as .a limit stop. A leaf spring 48 biases the pawl 36 to its shoulder engaging position.

From the foregoing disclosure it can be seen that I have provided a very effective cooperative relation of elements adapted to produce four gauge markings of any desired uniform quality .in a simple and direct manner with universal application for either round or .fiat specimens. A flat specimen may be laid upon the flat surface 46 and laterally positioned against a vertical guide ledge 41. By having the lower pin block 9 pivotally supported on pin it the specimens automatically adjust themselves so as to be .in simultaneous contact with all four center punches. The pivot pin 16 by being in a plane disposed substantially midway between the punches d and 5 provides, in effect, a three point relationship between this pin and the two upper punches 22 and 23 therebyto cause all .of the punches to adjust themselves to produce uniform marking thereof. By mounting the upper punch block 24 rigidly with the automatic hammer device 26 and slideably supporting the whole hammer barrel in the head 3,-it is possible in asimple andeffective mannerto'accurately guide the punch block24. Hence I-am able to obtain not only the functional cooperative relationship of parts as above set forth butalso to provide a device that is relatively economical, sturdy and reliable.

It will of course be understood that various changes in detail of construction and arrangement of parts maybe made'by those skilledin the art-without departing from the spirit .ofinvention asset forthin the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A specimen gauge-marking device comprising, in combination, a pair of upper centerpunches spaced apart in accordance with the desired gauge length to be marked on the specimen, a pair of lower center-punches respectively positioned in alignment with said upper punches and acting in opposition thereto, whereby a specimen placed between the upper and lower pairs of punches may be marked on opposite sides in accordance with the desired gauge length, means for commonly movably supporting one of said pairs of center-punches, whereby a common hammer blow may be imparted to said common means to efiect four punch marks simultaneously on the specimen, .means for centering a round specimen so that .the opposing center-punches are positioned diametrically thereof, and means whereby the said centering support is yieldably movable in a direction to permit the specimen to come into contact with the lower center-punches.

2. A specimen gauge-marking device comprising, in combination, upper and lower pairs of aligned center-punches respectively acting inopposition to each other whereby a specimen placed between and in engagement with said punches is adapted to be marked on opposite sides, means for movably supporting one pair of said centerpunches so that a hammer blow may be imparted thereto thereby to cause all four punches to mark the specimen simultaneously, means for centering a flat specimen with respect to the said center-punches so that each pair of opposing punches is positioned at a desired location on the specimen, and means whereby said centering means is movable to allow the specimen to have simultaneous contact with all punches.

3. A specimen gauge marking device comprising, in combination, .a pair of upper centerpunches spaced apart in accordance with the desired gauge length to bevmarked on the specimen, a pair of lower center-punches respectively positioned in alignment with said upper punches and acting in opposition thereto, wherehya specimen placed between the upper and lower pairs of punches may be marked on opposite sides in accordance with the desired gauge length, a frame, means supported by said frame for commonly movably supporting one of said pairs of center-punches so that these latter centerpunches are movable simultaneously with each other, and means also supported by said frame for movably supporting the other pair .of center punches so that a substantially uniform contact may -be made between all of said punches and .the specimen, whereby a hammer blow imparted to one of said common supporting members .will cause all of the punches to mark a specimen substantially simultaneously and uniformly.

4. A specimen gauge-marking device comprising, in combination, a pair of upper centerpunches spaced apart in accordance with the desired gauge length to be marked on the specimen, a pair of lower center-punches respectively .positioned in alignment with said upper punches and acting in opposition thereto, whereby :a specimen placed between the upper and lower .pairs of punches may be marked on opposite sides in accordance with the desired gauge length, a frame, means supported by said frame for commonly movably supporting one of said pairs of centerpunches, the other pair of center-punches being rigidly mounted upon a second common member, and means also connected to said frame for :movably supporting said latter common member so that it may adjust itself to effect substantially equal contact between all of the punches and the specimen, whereby a common hammer blow transmitted to one of said common members at a point between the center-punches thereof will cause all of the center-punches to mark the specimen substantially simultaneously and uniformly.

5. The combination set forth in claim 4 further characterized in that the means for movably supporting said second common member comprise a pivotal support therefor positioned in a plane disposed substantially midway between the two center-punches on the second member whereby a three point supporting relation is present between said pivot and the two center-punches of the first common support thereby to cause uniform contact of all punches with the specimen.

6. A specimen gauge-marking device comprising, in combination, a pair of upper centerpunches spaced apart in accordance with the desired gauge length to be marked on the specimen, a pair of lower center-punches respectively positioned in alignment with said upper punches and acting in opposition thereto, whereby a specimen spaced between the upper and lower pairs of punches may be marked on opposite sides in accordance with the desired gauge length, a frame, means supported by said frame for commonly movably supporting one of said pairs of center-punches so that a hammer blow imparted to said common supporting means simultaneously effects four punch markings, and means adapted to allow relative adjustment between the upper and lower pairs of punches so that substantially equal contact is efiected between all of the punches and the specimen, whereby a common hammer blow transmitted to said movable supporting means at a point between the centerpunches thereon will cause all of the centerpunches to mark the specimen substantially simultaneously and uniformly.

'7. A specimen gauge-marking device comprising, in combination, a pair of upper centerpunches spaced apart in accordance with the desired gauge length to be marked on the specimen, a pair of lower center-punches respectively positioned in alignment with said upper punches and acting in opposition thereto, whereby a specimen placed between the upper and lower pairs of punches may be marked on opposite sides in accordance with the desired gauge length, movable supporting means for commonly rigidly connecting together one of said pairs of centerpunches so that they are movable simultaneously with each other at all times, and a hammer device connected to said movable punch supporting means for imparting a hammer force to the movable center-punches and thence to the other pair of punches to effect four punch-markings simultaneously, said device having means to be compressed to store up energy which is suddenly released upon a predetermined compression of the device thereby to create said hammer blow on the punches.

8. A specimen gauge-marking device comprising, in combination, a pair of upper centerpunches spaced apart in accordance with the desired gauge length to be marked on the specimen, a pair of lower center-punches respectively positioned in alignment with said upper punches and acting in opposition thereto, whereby a specimen placed between the upper and lower pairs of punches may be marked on opposite sides in accordance with the desired gauge length, movable supporting means for commonly rigidly connecting together one of said pairs of centerpunches so that they are movable simultaneously with each other at all times, and a hammer device connected to said movable punch supporting means for imparting a hammer force to the movable center-punches and thence to the other pair of punches to efiect four punch-markings simultaneously, said device having means to be compressed to store up energy which is suddenly released automatically upon a predetermined compression of the device thereby to create said ham mer blow on the punches, and a frame having a bore in which said automatic device is axially movable in the direction in which force is applied to the movable center-punches.

ALFRED SONNTAG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,300,790 Tretch Apr. 15, 1919 1,564,721 Tallon Dec. 8, 1925 OTHER REFERENCES Catalogue of Olsen Testing Machine Co. 

